Visiting Nazca

Most people visit Nazca because of the pre-inca figures, drawn on the ground. I agree that it’s a spectacular view, if you see the lines from above. There is a small airport, where many companies offer flights above the valley. The view is worth every cent, so don’t hesitate to book a flight. Just don’t forget your passport, because they will check you as they do in every other airport.

Dinner in La Estación, Nazca

There are many restaurants in the city that serve traditional Peruvian dishes. Remember that although they have five-star restaurants, Peruvians are more about pure traditional dishes. If you really want to taste the cuisine, eat where the locals do. It’s a sign that the food is good.

La Estación is a restaurant, located next to the main square of Nazca. It’s a quite big restaurant, open for lunch and dinner. The prices are very decent, so you won’t pay more than 100 sol (about 30 euro) for two including a bottle of pisco sour. What you can eat is delicious lomo saltado or Asian inspired beef dish.

Buying groceries in the local supermarket

Local stores are full with fresh produce from the area.  There are plenty of fruit and vegetables, different kinds of rice and meat. It’s amazing how many products they offer.

I saw about ten different sorts of fresh bread. The huge variety of cakes and sweets was also very impressive.

And the most funny thing is that you don’t even see that there is a supermarket. The front looks like a clothes store and continues in this big space, full with everything a household needs.

Lunch in Camaná

We visited the restaurant Restaurant Riconcito Trujillano in Camaná. Our guide ordered food beforehand, so they were prepared to serve it directly, but I’m pretty sure that can prepare lunch at any moment. In Peru people eat a lot for lunch and finish the day with a very light diner. So to be in sync with the locals, we had a big lunch.

We ordered Avocado filled with chicken salad as an entrée. It is a very light and creamy dish, made of a half avocado, chicken, carrots, mais and green beans.

The main course was Chupe de chamarones or Soup of river crab or river shrimp, as they name it here. The taste of the broth was amazing and it was due to the big amount of crab in the dish. In every portion there were 6 to 8 crabs. The crabs come from the river Ocoña. From April to October you can catch the river crabs and make this delicious soup.

If you want to finish your lunch with a desert, they make delicious fruit salads with diverse local fruit and vanilla pudding with caramel sauce.